//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Lost // Story: Ponyville, USA // by Rox //------------------------------// - MSNBC - "- fatalities have been reported at being around seven, all of which so far have involved vehicles. It is also believed that several Equestrians have also-" - FOX - "- never seen anything like this! It's like somebody took two different Lego sets and then mashed them together and they didn't follow the instructions..." - NBC - "What is your name? How did you get here?" "Er...." "Don't be shy!" "Uh... C- Candy Swirl, and I have no idea where 'here' is! You're kinda freaking me out!" - Southern Alps - Firetail's huge scales prickled as the sensation of magic washed over him. Not that he had particularly missed it. It was more like stepping out into a brisk breeze after hibernating in a warm cave, a sudden jolt of remembering what it was like. He stirred upon his measly pile of gems, mostly made of stale gold and tiny diamonds that he had to slurp like a pony would sugar to eat, and slowly made for the entrance of his cave. Not to mention that a lot of it was Cubic Zirconium, which tasted like sawdust. He pushed away the bones of some animals he had picked off to replace the lack of minerals and crawled out the opening, slowly unfurling his massive wings. The return of magic meant the one thing that actually mattered to him: Gems. The magic energy had come from the south. In his previous world there had been a pony nation there, though he wasn't sure what he could expect now that it was clear he was no longer in his usual stomping grounds. These new creatures hadn't appeared all that much better than the ponies, and they certainly had been just as scared of him as the ponyfolk. There was only one way to find out. Firetail just hoped they didn't have any anti-dragon magic. Most of those annoying unicorns never bothered learning it anymore since the alicorns had come around. Dragons didn't usually go onto Pony territory (except for his idiot cousin who came back babbling about some little yellow pony with eyes from Tartarus) but the ancient stories that were often swapped during the Great Migrations made it very apparent that it was not to be trifled with. He took to the air, comforting himself with the obvious fact that none of the creatures he had seen so far even had a horn, so they probably didn't have magic at all. This would be a piece of quartz. - Washington D.C. - "Sir, I admit that I don't get it." "This is a chance for us to compare and contrast. They don't know she's here and on the way. I don't doubt their story, but this is a chance for us to prove to everyone present whether or not their story holds up." "They might not like it if they find out." "Then we tread carefully. " "What about what the report out of Canada of a third?" "Well, we'll just cross that bridge when it comes." - Asher - Somehow, even being distracted by thoughts concerning a million different things did not make the plane ride home any less terrifying. He wasn't even sure why he always took the window seat, because being there made it all too easy to imagine falling all the way down. Maybe it was the idea that not knowing was even scarier. Asher twisted his neck and cracked it habitually as he took in another deep breath, reminding himself that airplanes almost never went down and that they were really safe and that if they did go down they were all going to freaking die. "Wow, you're even whiter than normal." Asher looked away from his staring down the miles between himself and their demise over to Rainbow Dash, who was smirking at him with one eyebrow raised as she leaned casually over the arm of one of the chairs. "What do you mean by that?" asked Rarity indignantly. Rainbow Dash's face fell when she glanced at the white unicorn and realized what she said. "Uh... Er.. I meant... paler!" Rainbow Dash stammered. "I'm just kidding!" Rarity laughed. "I knew exactly what you meant." Asher laughed a little too, appreciating her attempt at humor. They were all just a little bit stressed. Or in Twilight's case, a lot stressed. The purple pony was propped up in her seat, nervously twiddling her hooves like a kid who just got busted for passing notes in class. She had been mostly quiet since they left the Pentagon, the wheels in her mind turning non-stop. Asher felt kinda bad that they didn't get to see much of D.C. He'd been looking forward to it himself, but in light of developments they had agreed it was probably best to head home so that they could figure out what to do next. And so they could access the Ponyville library. Deciding that dwelling on their altitude was probably not the best for his health, Asher glanced around the cabin. In one corner the Mayor was actually napping while Meadowlark levitated a notepad of some sort. The latter never seemed to take a break. Comet Tail and Caramel sat side by side in another corner, saying nothing, and staring into space. Turns out guys are still guys even when they’re ponies. Anne was nowhere to be seen, probably off exploring the aircraft again, but surprisingly Pinkie Pie was still in her seat, chatting Jonathon’s ear off. Rarity had gone back to her conversation with his Mom after her successful joke on Rainbow. "Hey, Ash, just how bad is it in LA?" Asher turned forward, where David was peering around the back of his seat with a serious expression, and Patrick was peering over the top of his own, obviously wanting to hear the answer. "They didn't know much, but there's a lot of damage," Asher replied. "It's like the town was practically dropped on top of Hollywood." "You already said that," Patrick deadpanned. "We don't know anything, do we?" Asher scowled at his younger brother, mostly because he was right. "So their whole world could come crashing down on top of us and we'd have no way to stop it," Patrick continued, reading Asher well. "Pretty much." "Something did stop it though," David added. "It's more like it all just stopped at once," Asher said. "It wasn't us, and Twilight said that it probably wasn't a pony. So it stopped all on its own then." "Is it just me, or doesn't it sound like a leaking dam?" Patrick said. Asher and David nodded agreement. It was like Ponyville was the first hole in a dam, the leak eventually springing bringing, across Rainbow Falls, before finally cracking and bursting again in a near flood. Thinking like that, it was logical to think that it would eventually totally burst like the Teton Dam did in Idaho. Now the question was... - Twilight - ... what is this dam, and why is it breaking? And why our world? Why this world? Twilight had been stewing her brain more than ever, dredging up long buried magical knowledge. She had once read that when confronted with a complicated issue that it was always better to start with the basics first, and the simpler the answer becomes the closer you are to the truth. Therefore the lessons of elementary magic were running on replay through her mind. Magic is drawn from within, driven by will and emotion. Spells are achieved by summoning this will and instructing its natural interaction with the world. This will can be augmented by individual talent and the environment around them. Earth ponies and pegasi magic is driven by the same forces, though it is manifested more through their talents. These factors, will, talent, and environment, when brought together in the optimal combination form a magical mark, called cutie marks, which serve to allow ponies understand where their magic is strongest. Twilight could remember all of it like it had been taught yesterday, her memories still in mint condition, but it still wasn't helping. Fluttershy and Applejack were sitting on either side of her, having a conversation around her as she tried to think. She caught little bits of it here and there as it interfered with her train of thought. Both were worried about their responsibilities in Ponyville. "I'm afraid Spike might have taken on too much this time when I left him in charge of the animals," Fluttershy confided. "Angel has never exactly... gotten along well with him." "Ain't that the truth," Applejack snickered. "But I know where yer comin' from. Big Mac and Apple Bloom are prob'ly fine, but sometimes it seems like I can't leave the farm for two minutes without somethin' goin' haywire." "The same could be said for Sweetie Belle," Rarity chimed in from across the aisle. "I do admit that we may have left a perfect storm behind by letting her stay at Sweet Apple Acres." "Don't fret about that, Rarity," Applejack said. "Granny Smith has dealt with more youngins than anypony I know. With your parents still in Equestria, it's no trouble at all for her to stay with the Apples." "And I do appreciate it," Rarity said gratefully. "It's a pity Manehattan didn't appear; then we could see our parents." Fluttershy lit up a little at that. Cloudsdale had appeared in some place called Wyoming, meaning that as long as they had been in the city it was likely that both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash's families were now here with them. As for Canterlot or Nickerlite, where the Pie rock farm is, neither had been 'chosen' in the recent magical transition. Twilight wasn't actually sure how she felt on the subject. On one hoof it would be so nice to see her parents again, and Princess Celestia for that matter. Even Princess Luna would be a welcome sight for sore eyes, especially because of the news that so many other countries were now involved. On the other hoof, Twilight would much prefer that they remained safely in Equestria until the day they could finally bring the displaced Equestrians home. "Hey, who wants to watch a movie?" Anne bounced up to the front of the passenger area, holding up some movie cases, drawing all of their attention. "Where did you get those?" Jonathon yelled from the back. "I always bring movies on vacation," Anne defended, saying it like it was something that should never be forgotten on a trip. Twilight found herself very grateful. "You have my vote," Twilight ventured, raising a hoof. Rainbow Dash quickly added hers along with Asher near the windows, followed soon after by everypony else nodding or voicing their agreement. Twilight hadn't quite realized how much she wanted something to take her mind off their troubles until the option was presented. "Good! Mr. Lin!" Anne sang out, running towards the blank screen at the front. Pressing a little button on the bottom, it flickered to life as one of the guards wearing a suit walked into the room. Anne held the movies like playing cards, trying to decide what would entertain them to their destination before finally picking one and handing it to the man. "Hercules! You'll like it, it has a pegasus!" Anne said with a wide smile. What I wouldn't give for her optimism. - And Now, a Highlight Reel of Reactions - "Huh. We have a couple of similar legends too." "Shh! No egg-head stuff!" "This song is going to be stuck in my head for weeks!" "Is that a threat Pinkie?" - A couple minutes later - "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Did he just make a pegasus out of clouds!?" "That would explain a lot." "Schk!" "Aw, so what! He's adorable!" "Well that guy's creepy." "Is that fire for hair? That would be awesome!" - Few Seconds Later - "That pegasus acts a lot like you, Rainbow." "I have no comment." - Next - "You know, we've actually met Cerberus..." "Why am I not surprised by that?" "He's usually a sweetheart, though." - And... - "Yep, it's totally you without the rainbow hair." "I do not sleep like that!" - Fast Forwarding - "Wow those guys are creepy." "Ugh, I hate snakes." "Hey, watch out you lugs!" "Wow, I'm starting to like this kid." - A song or so later - "HA! Ah HA! HA! HA! HA! This guy's, Ha! More destructive... Hee! Than your sisters!" "Hey!" - I'm running out of things to say here - "And I just realized how offensive this movie might be to you." "No, that was funny." "...brain of a bird...." - Down the Line - "That's a centaur." "That's....disturbing." "But he does have a good insult. 'Two Legs!'" - A whole bag of popcorn consumed later - "And I thought the real Hydra was scary." "That image is gonna haunt my dreams." "The idea that they're real is gonna haunt my dreams." - Fast Forward - "How did this suddenly get so mushy!?" - After Some Scolding from Rarity - "And it's back to being epic." "That's an understatement!" "That escalated rather quickly." - A dramatic fight scene later - "I think I'm gonna cry!" "Gall Darn it! Why do all y'all's stories have sad parts?" "Tissue?" - Twilight - "Well, that was pleasant," said Twilight, stretching just as the pilot announced their imminent arrival back in the city of Colorado Springs. These movie things really made the time fly by. Also the fascinating fact that it had been based off real legends from both worlds re-cemented their only lead in the entire mystery. The cultural, physical, and historical parallels, not to mention a nearly identical language were the only known links between their worlds. "It was alright," Rainbow Dash said with a dismissive wave of the hoof just as the plane touched down with a bump. "And don't you say a word Applejack!" "I wasn't gonna say nothin' about Pegasus," Applejack smirked playfully as Rainbow shot a squinting glare her direction. "I thought it was super duper! A little scary, but super duper!" Pinkie Pie chirped in. "I'm just glad we're home," Asher breathed. Twilight did find it amusing that he was so scared of flying even though their machines felt far more secure than the balloons and blimps of Equestria. Cars once again waited to transport them back to Ponyville, which they eagerly clambered back into. The streets seemed a little emptier than normal as they drove back, which Twilight imagined was a precaution. They had already heard that some had died because of being in their cars at the wrong time, and that several Equestrians had met a similar fate. It didn't take much to imagine such a large, fast moving, metallic object causing catastrophic damage to any living thing it hit. In fact, it kind of made Twilight wonder why Asher seemed completely at ease in a car when he was so on edge in the air. They rounded the mountains and were soon pushing past crowds and onto the long path towards the Burgess home. Soon after arriving, Twilight followed the ever excitable Pinkie Pie, who was following the near equally energetic Anne, back into the over-sized human home and straight out the back door. "Race ya back!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Yer on!" Applejack answered and both galloped off ahead. Comet Tail and Caramel followed them but at a less frenetic pace, with the Mayor and Meadowlark not far behind talking worriedly between themselves. Twilight glanced back at Asher, who had stopped at his back porch. He quickly waved them on. "I'm gonna get unpacked and get some stuff together," Asher said. "I'll come up in a bit." "Sure thing," Twilight replied as she walked on with her less competitive friends. It was a bit of a speed walk, as Twilight was anxious to get back to library quickly to pull up everything she knew about each of the towns that crossed over. She wished she had information on all the ones outside America’s borders, but it appeared that info did not pass easily between nations on this Earth. "Looks like the apple trees are doing well. I don't think I've seen them this lush in a while," Rarity remarked as they passed into the orchards. "That's good news for the animals too," Fluttershy added. "They'll begin stocking up for winter soon." "Twilight!" The conversation was interrupted by Rainbow Dash blazing back at full speed. "Twi! Spike! Guh! Wha! C'mere!" she sputtered incoherently before reversing directions just as fast as she came back up the hill towards town. "What did she say?" Twilight asked. "Twi! Spike! Guh! Wha! C'mere!" Pinkie Pie recited with a toothy grin. After a quick, compulsory glance of confusion at Rarity and Fluttershy, they silently agreed that they should hurry on to see what had discombobulated her so. They were met in the park just outside of Ponyville. Rainbow Dash was zipping back and forth, still shouting unintelligible garble as Applejack galloped, with Spike aboard her back, towards them. "Twilight! Rarity! Fluttershy! Pinkie Pie!" Spike shouted, waving something in his claws. The little dragon tumbled off the earth pony's back, landing flat on his face. Applejack skidded to a stop to make sure he was alright. Seemingly unfazed, Spike sprang back up and Twilight was now close enough to see that he was holding...a letter! Twilight wasted no time, teleporting the remaining distance and taking the letter, the seal of which having already been ripped off by curious dragon claws. "Princess Celestia!!?" She asked excitedly as she began to read. "Nope!" Rainbow Dash finally said intelligibly. Twilight sped read down the short letter. "It's LUNA!" Applejack announced to everypony. "She's here!" - Luna - "She already left? Twould seem I should have traveled by mine own power," Luna lamented as one of the "humans" informed her. She stood now on the lawn of an impressive white mansion which served as the home of the Head of State for the kingdom. "Twilight Sparkle surely knows more about our situation than I." "She served well as an ensign, and helped us understand the concerns of your, er... ponies," the human with a dark pelt said. "Admittedly that was before this morning." "Indeed," Luna responded. "She has always been a bright student, and twas not a difficult decision to advance her to Princess. But I fear our work has just begun." "Do you believe this will continue?" the human, a 'President White,' asked with a guarded expression. "Almost undoubtedly," Luna said confidently. "My sister and I came to conclusion that, if it is not solved and reversed, the spell would continue to raid our world until it had consumed all, though even we were not able to stop nor understand it in our attempt at Paint Louis." Luna saw no reason to hold back the truth from the leader of this land, and he seemed to carry himself very well. Unlike some of her subjects who often acted like the sky was falling at the slightest sign of distress. She would bet the moon that some of the Equestrian towns out there were already in full panic mode. "I need to contact all of our citizens who have fallen victim to this spell," Luna announced, turning with intention of reaching the ponies who had come with her. At least two of them were pegasus so they could act as messengers, and another letter to Twilight Sparkle via the dragon could easily rouse more pegasi like her speedy rainbow friend to do the same. "Actually, I believe we can help you with that." - Asher - "So.... Spike's fire, can send and receive letters..." "Yes." "And.... he just got one from another Princess...." "Yep." "Who's now here..." "You got it." Asher blinked once or twice as he looked on from his position leaning on one of the library bookshelves. He had walked into Ponyville to find what he guessed was their version of a celebratory riot, which, considering that morning's events, was more than a bit of a surprise. Only after he had finally arrived at the library and found Twilight did he get an explanation for the public displays of mirth circulating their streets. "Okay then," he finally said with a smile and a shrug. "Judging by y’all’s reactions this is really good news." "I'll say!" Twilight said with the tone of someone not quite off of a joy rush. "Even with her thousand-year banishment to the Moon she has a lot more experience than I do, and much stronger magic." Say what now? "First of all, banished to the moon? And second, just how old is she?" Asher inquired, completely perplexed. "Yeah, she sort of got possessed by shadow creatures and tried to make it nighttime forever," Rainbow Dash piped in. "But when she came back we found the Elements of Harmony and Zap! She's good again." Asher had no comment, or rather did not have the time to comment as Twilight answered his second question. "I don't know exactly because I've never asked. I do know she's about two years younger than Princess Celestia and I think she's about 1500 years old or so..." "Wait, really? I thought it was a lot longer," Rainbow Dash said. "Wow, that's even older than Fluttershy!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, earning an uncharacteristically ugly look from the yellow pegasus across the room. Asher on the other hand was caught in that strange zone between acceptance and skepticism which mostly just led to a blank expression of disbelief. Even his adopted policy of blanket acceptance when they talked about stuff like magic was having trouble jump starting his thoughts. His suspense of disbelief was getting stretched to its maximum at that point. "You okay? You look a little sick," Pinkie Pie said, leaning into his personal space again. "Oh, I'm sure I'm fine," said Asher, wrestling in his mind with the notion that he'd been institutionalized all that time and everything had just been vivid hallucinations for the seventh time in two weeks. He really was counting just in case he ever "snapped out of it." "Oh. Ok!" Pinkie responded brightly, skipping away. Deciding to pretend that he accepted it, Asher changed the subject. "What about those towns?" Asher asked, turning to Twilight. The alicorn frowned. "There's nothing to connect them all," she said. "And with all those ones landing in other kingdoms we can't even say that they're all from Equestria. I thought that perhaps because Equestria is our world's strongest magical superpower that there was something to that, but it's obvious that theory is out the window." "Why'd you throw it out the window?" Pinkie Pie interjected, craning to look out one of the openings. "I think that was a figure of speech, Pinkie," Applejack answered in a monotone. "I don't suppose there's anything about the locations here?" Twilight asked, with almost no expectation to receive any positive answer, to which she was justified. "Nope. As I said before, they're all so different it's ridiculous. So even our little "mountain" lead we had with Rainbow Falls means absolutely nil." "So, what you two egg-heads are saying is that while our home comes crashing down here we're back to square one?" Rainbow Dash asked. Two nods. "Great." Rainbow Dash made for the door. "Where're ya goin'?" Applejack asked. "Cloudsdale. Figure it might be a good idea to tell them where they are so they don't freak out. Plus I wanna say hi to the folks." Rainbow Dash said brightly. "You comin' too Flutters?" "Um, okay." "Sweet. We'll be back by sundown," Rainbow Dash said, and with that the two pegasi disappeared out the door and into the air. "She can be really intelligent when she wants to be," Asher said observationally after they had gone. "Well, she's weather manager for a reason," said Twilight with proud smile. His bouncy, though generic, ringtone sounding in his pocket interrupted the conversation as Asher fished his phone out of his pocket. For some reason it was David's number on the caller ID, so Asher answered as the ponies watched curiously. "What?" "Dude, did you know they have another Princess?" "Yeah, they just told me." "Wait, how did they know?" "Something about magic fire." "Uh-huuuunh... yeah, it's all over the news." "What are they saying?" "That the story seems to be pretty much the same as it was for our friends here. Lightning storms all going off at once and next thing they know they're in Alberta." "What did he say?" Pinkie Pie whispered excitedly a few inches from Asher's ear, effectively startling him. "Hold on, Pinkie. It was in Canada then?" Asher continued, pushing the pony back. "Yeah, right along with a whole city made out of freaking crystal." "Crystal!?" Asher asked incredulously. He glanced at Twilight with amusement, thinking to that morning where he had learned of the all-cloud city now floating in Wyoming air space. To his surprise she looked flat stunned. "Er, pardon a second, but didja just say ‘crystal?’" Applejack asked with equal disbelief as Pinkie Pie gave an exaggerated gasp and Rarity shared a surprised look of her own with Twilight. "Hold on, Dave," Asher told his brother, holding the phone away from his face to get an explanation. "But... if Princess Luna was in the Crystal Empire why didn't she say so? And why didn't she say anything about Princess Cadance or my brother?" Twilight asked to no one in particular. Asher put the phone back to his ear, a question to be answered. "Did they say the Princess' name?" "Yeah, Cadance something or other. Has a horn and wings too, but she's a bit taller than the rest of them... Wait. Another one?" Asher put his phone down, not needing to know what he meant. "It looks like your Princess Cadance is here too," he confirmed. "So what's this about a Crystal Empire? - Firetail - The dragon was fleeing. That last time he had done that was as a teenager, when he accidentally wondered into a hydra nest thinking it was a diamond dog mine. Whatever those big birds were, they had powerful magic. He carried another handful of gems that he had raided from the first town he had come upon, which turned out to be full of those strange creatures. He was sure the ponies' settlement was not far off, but before he had the chance to continue south his attackers had descended out of the sky and smashed a fireball into his side. It had been hot enough for him to actually feel the heat and had felt more painful than the time he had been clawed on the back by another dragon, and it had sent him sprawling into the forest that he had been flying over. Even as he flew away he could tell that his scales had managed to hold up to the blow but he imagined it would probably bruise. Firetail hoped he didn't run into any of his friends or nest-mates, because he would never hear the end of it if they found out. Dragons were the most indestructible creatures on the planet, only vulnerable to special unicorn magic and each other. To be actually injured by anything else was humiliating. The rumbling roar of the birds crescendoed slowly as he realized they were getting closer. Acting on instinct, the huge dragon dove towards the earth, hoping to avoid any more of those fireballs being potentially hurled his direction. He peered back and saw them flying wing to wing not far behind him, easily keeping pace. They had strange, stiff tails that sat straight up coupled with a very solid looking body. In fact, it smelled like metal. Both of them suddenly lit up their noses, and something started pelting his body hitting easily as hard as a pony's kick (don't ask how he knew what that felt like, because he won't tell you). Firetail only flinched as it was annoying him, but this new magic didn't really hurt. In fact, this was just serving to make him angry. He gained altitude sharply and came to a hovering stop in the air. The metal birds suddenly peeled off with great agility, but not enough agility to get away. Firetail exhaled a plume of steaming hot smoke directly at them, throwing them both into disarray. They both faltered as they flew by him and for a moment he anticipated they would smash into the mountainside. But they were tough as they looked, as both managed to climb back up, but this time they were putting as much distance between themselves and the dragon as fast as they could. Firetail roared triumphantly. Nothing would challenge him now. - Nicaragua - "If this is a prank somepony's gettin' a flank wooping." Daring secured her hat on her head as she picked her way over the excuse for a jungle path, wishing the most dastardly curses upon the map she pored over; Or on whoever made it. She tapped her compass to make sure that wasn't the issue but there was nothing that indicated to her that it was wrong. Besides, her instincts were sharp enough to tell directions and those too confirmed which direction was north and south. So either the map was horribly out of date or the paths had just been moved. Either way somepony was in for it. She had a deadline to meet for her next book, but if she couldn't even locate the temple then she'd have no material. It was times like this that made her laugh when she thought about all the times she was praised for her "imagination." "Actually, somepony's getting a flank wooping no matter what," Daring Do muttered as she looked up from the map to reveal that there was an offshoot that the map did not have, while her path obviously led to dead end in a ditch. She decided that she would take the offshoot path, even though according to her useless map it was in the wrong direction, because it was well worn and might at least get her somewhere she could get more reliable information. She followed it for several minutes, only hoofing it because she was carrying all her gear and wishing she wasn't so she could just fly and get there already. An unfamiliar voice brought her back to reality. She turned to see who would be all the way out there and nearly jumped out of her skin when it was at least twice as big as she expected. A tall creature wearing a lot of clothes and a baseball hat over a dark mane and a smooth, brown pelt burst out of the brush. In an instant, Daring realized she was actually surrounded and her senses kicked into overdrive. She silently cursed herself for letting her frustration take over her good judgement as she leaped into her four legged fighting stance. Several more of the creatures appeared, each clothed heavily with only slightly varying pelt colors underneath. Some of them were carrying oddly shaped objects that could only be weapons, and others were carrying what were definitely machetes. They were talking quickly between each other, and in the speedy tongue of the Griffon Kingdom. That threw Daring Do for a loop, but at least she could understand what they were saying. "" "" "" "" The circle tightened slowly as the creatures inched closer with their arms extended. Whoever they were, they had obviously never dealt with a pegasus before. Daring Do unstrapped her backpack and slid her gear off her back, freeing her body for movement. She had to admit that she found herself eagerly anticipating the chance to get out some of her pent up aggression. Perhaps the map was good for something. "" she roared.